Auteur theory is based on the idea that great filmmakers are considered artists in their own right. It was an idea thought of in the 1950s by Andre Bazin and the writers for Cahiers du Cinema, to show spectators at the time that films are not just products created by studios for profit, but works of art that rivals that of any novelist. Auteurship (which is the French word for 'authorship') is not commonly associated with animated films, due to the medium generally being looked at by critics as a children's medium, as well as associating animation with Disney, which a lot of people admire as the greatest animation studio, and this turned the animation industry into a corporate tool. There were still many great animation auteurs to come, such as Hayao Miyazaki, Ray Harryhausen, and Chuck Jones; however the medium is usually debunked by critics everywhere.
Avant-garde is a term derived from war terminology, that basically means to charge into battle ahead of the main troops, and what the term means in film context is to be more innovative with the narrative, trying different and unconventional approaches. In a sense, Jan Svankmajer manages this perfectly, merging stop-motion claymation with pixillation in his films. He can technically be seen as an auteur filmmaker in this sense, developing his own style of filmmaking and managing to avant-garde in the process.
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